{"id":622,"date":"2026-05-20T18:05:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=622"},"modified":"2026-05-20T18:05:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:05:39","slug":"johnston-man-accused-of-murdering-his-mother-confessed-to-police-prosecutors-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=622","title":{"rendered":"Johnston man accused of murdering his mother confessed to police, prosecutors say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"summary\">AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article280707640.html\">Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Johnston County prosecutors say a Clayton man was caught \u201cred-handed\u201d after he told police he\u2019d killed his mother on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=620\">NC constitutional amendment that would limit property tax hikes passes House<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Michael Corteze Sanders, 43, faces a first-degree murder charge after police on Monday discovered his mother, 65-year-old Robie Annette Sanders, with multiple stab wounds at an apartment in downtown Clayton. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n<p>During a first appearance hearing on Tuesday \u2014 which Sanders asked to attend virtually rather than in person \u2014 prosecutors said Sanders admitted to officers that he had killed his mother, suggesting he had done it for drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly before her death, Robie Sanders had called authorities to ask about mental health support for her son, Assistant District Attorney Paul Jackson said.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Sanders didn\u2019t speak as Judge Jillian Pope read off his charges and the potential punishment he could face, which she said could include death or life in prison. Prosecutors haven\u2019t decided if they will pursue capital punishment, Jackson said.<\/p>\n<p>Sanders has been convicted of six crimes in the past 10 years. He was on probation at the time of his arrest after he was charged with second-degree forcible rape, sexual battery and obstruction of justice in 2024, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson said on Tuesday that he had prosecuted that case.<\/p>\n<p>Sanders was convicted of the obstruction of justice charge and sentenced to 60 days in custody and one year on parole, with a requirement of registering as a sex offender and maintaining no contact with the victim, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=618\">Travis Kelce Shades Eagles Fans for Being \u2018Upset&#8217; About 2026 NFL Schedule<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But Jackson said prosecutors never expected he would commit a violent offense upon his release, as most of his prior charges had been nonviolent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my wildest dreams, I didn\u2019t think the state would have to worry about him harming his own mother,\u201d Jackson said during the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson requested no bail be set for Sanders, who he said is \u201can extreme danger to the community and to anyone who may want to take him in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>About 10 relatives of the Sanders family lined benches in the Johnston County courtroom on Tuesday, with Jackson saying he wasn\u2019t sure if they were there in support of Sanders or his mother. Several left the room in tears as prosecutors detailed the case, and Jackson escorted the group out after the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Pope, the judge, assigned Sanders a capital defender in the case and did not authorize his release. She set Sanders\u2019 next court date for June 4.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=616\">Who Is Ella Bleu Travolta? Meet John Travolta and Kelly Preston&#8217;s Daughter<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"summary gray\">This story was originally published <span class=\"inline-block\">May 19, 2026 at 5:23 PM<span>.<\/span><\/span><!-- --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Johnston County prosecutors say a Clayton man confessed to killing his mother in a downtown apartment. Judge denied release and assigned a capital defender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Johnston man accused of murdering his mother confessed to police, prosecutors say - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=622\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Johnston man accused of murdering his mother confessed to police, prosecutors say - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Johnston County prosecutors say a Clayton man confessed to killing his mother in a downtown apartment. 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